The U.S. is still “engaged and hopeful” that North Korea will abandon its nuclear weapons, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at the State Department on Tuesday.

The comments were the latest from a senior member of the Trump administration insisting that the current course of diplomacy with Pyongyang — despite months of stalemate and a newly reasserted hardline tone from Pyongyang — is still working.

“We still are hopeful that we will be able to head down a path,” Pompeo said, responding to a question about resolving the “two nuclear-related crises” in Iran and North Korea in the